By Past Nastification When GI Joe relaunched as “A Real American Hero” in 1982 and into 1983, there seemed to be two cardinal artistic rules about good guys and bad guys within the toy structure: 1. Good guys didn’t hide their faces (except for Snake-Eyes, of course). Figures like Tripwire and Snow Job, with only exposed partial faces, were frustrating.
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I hate to sound like a broken record, but here’s another all-time Classic GI Joe accessory/vehicle. Is it really a vehicle? I say yes, anything you strap to your person that allows you to fly about a la Buck Rogers or Commando Cody counts. Technically I guess you become the vehicle, but I’m not one for semantics. The JUMP was
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Lanard’s twelve inch Ultra CORPS! line filled a niche that the large scale GI Joe series wasn’t focused too heavily in at the time. Although the Joes were available as both real-world military and large scale versions of then current small figures, the execution of the scaled up little guys was lacking. With few exceptions, Hasbro had forgone full cloth
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A new GI Joe related book is available via Amazon, featuring thirty essays by Joe fans of all stripes, from authors, artists, collectors and more. Edited by and featuring an essay by new pulp and GI Joe Kindle Worlds author Jim Beard, the Joy of Joe is an exploration and celebration of what’s drawn so many kids to the brand.
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It’s International Women’s Day, and you don’t have to look far in the GI Joe mythos to find characterizations of strong and capable women. Scarlett, Lady Jaye, Cover Girl, and Jinx were on equal footing with their male teammates, and I’m glad to have been exposed to them as a boy. Yes, I bought all the “girl” figures as a
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By Past Nastification Junkyard and Freedom are the First Animals of ARAH GI Joe. Introduced in 1984, they were Hasbro’s first non-human figures in the line. As animal companions/accessories to Mutt and Spirit, respectively, they added world-building value to the Joe universe. Junkyard represented Mutt utilizing a trained working canine, whereas Freedom represented Spirit violating federal laws by keeping an
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Determining just who’s who among the helmetless Bronze Bombers of 1997 is tricky business. The small head shots on the file cards don’t always help with this, either. I’ve found that identifying the hair style and facial hair may be the best route to avoid confusing a Shortburst with a Suppressor X. Justice’s specialty according to his card is Weapons
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By Past Nastification The Adventure People predated GI Joe’s A Real American Hero 1982 rollout by several years. They provided great “civilian” figures for the Joes to rescue. As best I can find, this figure’s name is Jeff, from the 1977 TV Action Team news van playset. In 2017, it’s unbelievable that a toy company once thought that an action
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I’ve been on a kick lately of restoring packaging, particularly for 70s lines like Adventure Team and Big Jim. I’ve also been looking at knock-offs whose cards haven’t stood the test of time too well. Here’s the AT Jungle Survival set. I find these boxed outfit sets visually interesting even after you knock out the actual product. It makes for
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The Jungle Viper from 2005 was released as part of the– “Hey Rob, you already covered a Jungle Viper a couple weeks ago.” Yes, I did. “So you’re running out of ideas for subjects, huh? Took you almost five years, but you’re finally out of gas and forgetting what you’ve already posted.” Easy there, Chester. I haven’t quite run out
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